What they don't tell you about the OFW life

[chrismarte]

Di malungkot sa abroad, nag papaawa effect lang yung iba...

Seryoso, bakit ba kami nag aabroad? kasi wala kaming makitang opurtunidad sa pinas, dito kami nakahanap ng magandang sahod dito na kami nagkatahid pero ang kapalit malayo sa pamilya

2) It's a lonely life

nasa OFW na yun pano nya dadalhin. Swerte na nga naming mga henerasyon kasi may mga videocall na at madali na ang communication. Pag malungot videocall na sa pamilya. andyan ang wechat at skype. Naalala ko nung nasa Libya ako pupunta pa kami ng bayan na almot 25-40km makatawag lang.

3) OFWs become banks

mamili ka ng tutulungan, yung alam mo na walang wala at kung may extra ka edi tulungan natin, alam mo naman siguro yung mga nandyan lang pag may kailangan.

Swerte ako kasi ang magulang ko at mga in-laws hindi ako inobliga magbigay sa kanila. Nagkukusa na lang kami ng asawa, pag meron bigay, pag wala tiis


Isa pang nakakainis talaga na ugali ng iang OFW yung 1 day millionaire 29 days broke pagnagbakasyon. pag balik ng abroad may utang pa

true, kasi dati nasa Malaysia ako tatlo ang gf ko

pogi problem to sir

[Ry_Tower]

Kung mga USD $4,500 pataas siguro kinikita nang isang OFW okay na, below that esp mg $3,000 lang, gipit pa yan imho. Based sa mga kuwento nang kakilala ko na OFW. I don't know how accurate it is nga lang.

[confused shoes]

^Wow.

One the average, hindi aabot ng USD1000 ang monthly ng OFW, sir. Ang DH sa HK is below USD400. Ang construction workers sa ME, the same.

Even engineers can barely get USD3000.

[Ry_Tower]

^ Tag-hirap nga sila.

Okay na kahit USD3,000, puwede na yan. Pero kung below dyan, nagbuburit na lang talaga kung magsasabi na maganda buhay nila dun. Sadly, yung iba wala na lang talaga mahanap na trabaho dito.

Yung DH at least libre bahay at kain (siguro).

[macsd]

What is not told is the life of the smart OFWs. Some call them expats but they are all OFWs (unless they are immigrants or illegals). Some of these OFWs have even have their own OFWs working for them.

Let me help to differentiate an expat from OFW & from an immigrant so you don;t mix them up all together.

OFW - normally processed by recruitment agency via POEA, living quarters , annual contract, minimal - medium salary range. More
often mga dukha & abused. Mostly labor intensive jobs.

Expat - directly hired by overseas employer, does not go through POEA , interviews done by phone calls or need be personal are
given air tickets and hotel accommodation, provided own personal housing , inclusive of medical benefits & insurance,
annual round trip air ticket inclusive of family (sometimes) , signing bonus upon job acceptance, car / transpo provided,
free education for kids, complete company benefits including bonuses, the company handle the visa processing upon arrival
of host country etc.. mostly managerial task. Manny Pangilinan was an expat as CEO of First Pacific in HK before jumping
into the BGC deal where they started here.

Migrant - Normally apply using migrant visa from local base embassies of foreign countries on their own, either sponsored by
goverment or relative , fiance , husband/wife. Normally looks for job upon arriving to foreign country.

[confused shoes]

^ Expat whatever you call them but as long as they are required to have an OEC before leaving the country, they are OFWs.

[_Cathy_]

+1 macsd very accurate description

Where I work, if you are an expat, you are still connected to the company in your country. You are just sent to work on another location for a specific time period. If you get hired locally by the company abroad, then that is when you become an OFW. It's not just limited to blue collar jobs anymore. I have friends in the banking industry that are now working in SG with management positions in banks.

But my dream is to be an expat for our company (dream on really ) The Filipino expats in our company are living the life! The company takes care of everything - visa fees, travel arrangements, accommodation etc. All they need to do is send an email and they do the rest. They live in hotels and are paid enough to travel abroad on weekends (I am not kidding, WOW). However, this is only good for a maximum of one year (hotel accommodation). I would drop everything should I be given the privilege to be an expat in our company

Immigrant is nice too as long as you have a good job waiting for you. My former supervisor migrated to Canada and since we have a branch there, she asked for an endorsement from the local office. When she got to Canada, she already had a good job waiting for her. We still see each other whenever she comes home and she absolutely has no plan of going back here.

[macsd]

^ Expat whatever you call them but as long as they are required to have an OEC before leaving the country, they are OFWs.

Not necessarily true. The term OFW is defined by the Philippine goverment as anyone who work overseas/abroad. Expat can still go to Philippine embassy in foreign country to ask/get OEC and the embassy/consulate will just issue. The reason why expat do such is because they need not pay travel tax & airport fees here when going back. Even though expat can easily pay these fees, but why pay if there's a way to get it for free.

+1 macsd very accurate description

Where I work, if you are an expat, you are still connected to the company in your country. You are just sent to work on another location for a specific time period. If you get hired locally by the company abroad, then that is when you become an OFW. It's not just limited to blue collar jobs anymore. I have friends in the banking industry that are now working in SG with management positions in banks.

But my dream is to be an expat for our company (dream on really ) The Filipino expats in our company are living the life! The company takes care of everything - visa fees, travel arrangements, accommodation etc. All they need to do is send an email and they do the rest. They live in hotels and are paid enough to travel abroad on weekends (I am not kidding, WOW). However, this is only good for a maximum of one year (hotel accommodation). I would drop everything should I be given the privilege to be an expat in our company

Immigrant is nice too as long as you have a good job waiting for you. My former supervisor migrated to Canada and since we have a branch there, she asked for an endorsement from the local office. When she got to Canada, she already had a good job waiting for her. We still see each other whenever she comes home and she absolutely has no plan of going back here.

Oh yes, expats live a LIFE and they are not those na nangungutang because of this and that, they got hefty bank accounts and they can travel the world at their own expense.

Hear this, i have a former colleague who was hired here to work in SG as an expat. Last year he was moved back in their facility here with all the same & continues benefits his getting in SG, so his earning $ in his SG bank account with peso allowance here. How about that , being an expat in your own country and his not just one that i knew of, there's a lot of them here, like MVP is also one. BTW, my former colleague has his own company provided house & car in Cebu since their facility is there while his wife & kids that moved back with him is staying in Ayala Alabang.

[_Cathy_]

^I know someone who had exactly the same situation! My former direct manager left our company and transferred to a manufacturing company with its HQ in SG. He was based there for several months then got assigned in Manila as an expat! Skeletal lang sila in Manila and he is earning SGD wages in Manila. Oh the life of an expat

[macsd]

^I know someone who had exactly the same situation! My former direct manager left our company and transferred to a manufacturing company with its HQ in SG. He was based there for several months then got assigned in Manila as an expat! Skeletal lang sila in Manila and he is earning SGD wages in Manila. Oh the life of an expat

EXACTLY! So would they call them OFW in their own country ???